Australia’s transport infrastructure sector is being pushed to deliver more road and rail projects, faster, despite chronic shortages of experienced designers, modellers and project managers. Autodesk argues the practical AI opportunity is using tools such as automated clash detection, generative alignment options and machine‑assisted quantity take‑offs to extend the capacity of scarce senior engineers rather than replace them. For geotechnical and civil teams, this points to AI handling repetitive corridor design, drainage iteration and documentation, freeing specialists to focus on constructability, risk and stakeholder constraints.

Rising concern among construction professionals over data privacy and cyber security is slowing adoption of artificial intelligence tools, according to a new Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) report. Respondents cited risks around sharing commercially sensitive project data from BIM models and cost plans with cloud-based AI platforms, and uncertainty over where training data is stored and processed. The findings signal that AI deployment on live projects, including for quantity take-off automation and programme optimisation, may stall without clearer contractual, regulatory and data-governance frameworks.

Trimble has released SketchUp Pro Civil Contractor, linking Trimble SketchUp directly with Trimble Siteworks and the Trimble Earthworks grade control platform to create a single 3D earthworks model from design through layout, machine guidance and verification. The tool targets contractors handling grading, excavation and utilities who lack traditional 3D CAD skills, offering a faster way to generate field-ready models for dozers, excavators and survey kits. Streamlined data exchange between design, surveying and earthmoving is intended to cut rework, reduce downtime and improve positional accuracy on site.